The hivemind is conquering for me?

Turning around to the source of the voice, I spotted a Praetorian. The Praetorian was almost a head taller than Nerissa who was standing next to them and slightly bulkier to boot. The armour this Praetorian was wearing was less encompassing than Nerissa’s, but still enveloped the majority of their body. The armour also had no gems or that many engravings like Nerissa’s, it was simply an incredibly efficient piece of armour.

The tone the Praetorian used was neutral, but it had a feminine edge to it. Turning to Janine, I said. ”Go back home and make sure Orchid isn’t getting into too much trouble, I will be back soon.”

Janine’s eyes darted between the imposing figure and Apollo. She had just started getting used to Nerissa, she couldn’t handle the stress of two Praetorians. ”Just don’t be a magnet, Apollo... I know what you are like.” She then hugged my side before walking off, taking a few cursory look backs as she did so.

With a crowd of onlookers starting to form in the distance, which wasn’t a surprise considering Nerissa was enough to get people gawking, so two Praetorians had an advanced effect, i got into my introduction.

”Hi, I am Apollo as you know, nice to meet you, you are?”

A silence ungracefully planted itself between the two of us before Nerissa declared. ”Apollo, this is Phoebe. Phoebe, Apollo.” Phoebe turned her head sideways to address her kin. ”This is the one that caused the kerfuffle in the palace? He doesn’t look like much?”

’Ouch’ I thought to myself before turning to Nerissa. ”So, where are we going?” I asked, prompting Phoebe to turn her back to me. ”Come, we will discuss in the privacy of my ship. That both guarantees secrecy and negates any chance of you escaping if I dislike what I hear.”

I gave Nerissa a glance that she held, her purple eye slits totally emotionless, but with the depth built between us, I simply nodded my head and trusted my trust in her.

...

On the way to the ship, the following grew, I had grown used to it as they were not here for myself, but the two pinnacles of Spartari strength. Upon arriving at the Ship, Phoebe turned around and did something I had only dabbled in so far, due to my weak flesh.

”DISPERSE!” Her voice boomed so violently towards the followers that a great deal of them fell down from the impact. I was only able to amplify my voice, but she had made it into an attack... The dream began to swirl inside me once more...

Not allowing myself to get side-tracked before College started proper, I made my way into the ship.

Phoebe’s ship had a lovely interior. It looked more like a decorated room of bronze and marble, with intricate and most importantly, sturdy furniture. ”Sit.” She stated and pointed towards a nice padded chair next to a table.

I did as she asked and sat down. Phoebe then took the chair on the opposite end of the table and sat down, prompting Nerissa to then sit down to my right, Phoebe’s left.

After we all sat, a soft tension filled the air for a moment, mostly coming from me as I had no idea what to expect as other than Nerissa, my experience with Praetorians had not been kind to me, health wise.

”So, a blessing has been given out by Nerissa to you, Apollo Lambdason. With how our blessings work, it’s obvious you know of our lineage, do you mind if we remove our helmets and discuss this further?” Phoebe asked, getting right into it.

I waved my hands in an open gesture. ”Of course, this is your ship, I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.” I stated. A simple nod was all I received before the two Praetorians removed their helmets.

”Oh?” I blurted out, confused and a little bit rudely. ”Oh?” Phoebe parroted it, at which point I quickly explained. ”Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, I just expected your skin colour to be more...” I took a glance at the green Nymph to my right before looking back at Phoebe. ”Exotic.”

Phoebe, like Nerissa, was an incredibly attractive entity, however, she looked a lot more human than Nerissa did. She still had an uncanny beauty about her and her purple coloured lips and eyeshadow were definitely their natural colour and not makeup, but her charcoal black skin made her pass as human more than Nerissa for obvious reasons.

Phoebe ruffled her incredibly thick locks from her face, and didn’t give me the time as to how she fit that much hair inside of her helmet before she spoke. ”Exotic? Even among humans this skin colour is rare in the core worlds. I would classify myself as exotic in the eyes of Spartari. Also, of course our skin colour would be different, Nerissa is a nature Nymph, I am a void Nymph, born from the energy of the goddess Nyx.”

A flicker of a smile emerged upon her purple lips before she turned to Nerissa. ”I can see your appeal for telling the human, it has been a while since I have spoken my goddess’ name among outsiders. Though I suppose for you, just saying his name is a comforting reminder?”

Nerissa then turned to me and smiled genuinely. ”At first.” Was all she said and refused to elaborate. I matched Nerissa’s smile before Phoebe spoke again. ”Apollo, I am here today, not as a being of law and order or to punish you in any way... Yet.... I am here because Nerissa here has given out a blessing. This is quite a serious thing for us Nymphs as it has been a very, very long time since one of us has given one and considering the intimate nature of granting the blessing, I am here to simply make sure no foulness was at play.”

I nodded my head in agreement. ”That is a totally valid concern and I understand where you are coming from. Please, anything I can do to ease worry, you need only ask.” Phoebe nodded back, pleased with my cooperation.

”Very good. Now, Nerissa has already given me the, surprisingly heavy, omitted version of events, keeping your privacy a thing of utmost importance. Now, I would like you to fill in some blanks for me, allowing the whole picture to come together. Do you consent to these questions?”

I nodded my head and Phoebe got straight into the questioning. ”Splendid. Months ago, when the two of you first met, you said you did not grow up in the current Dogma, tell me about that...”

I began answering Phoebe’s questions. She asked about the smallest things, things I had even forgotten about such as ’ How did it feel when the bed broke underneath the two of you?’

Needless to say, she was very thorough. I answered as many questions as truthfully as I could, but some questions I asked if I could avoid answering, to which Phoebe simply moved to the next shortly after.

Phoebe then abruptly closed her eyes after I answered a question with. ”Yes, I asked for the blessing on a total whim after hearing it randomly, I truly had no idea a kiss was in play, Nerissa and I are simply friends, I would never ask her to do anything like that against her wishes.”

Phoebe sat there for five minutes while Nerissa and I patiently waited. When she opened her eyes again she looked at me with a familiar look... Nerissa noticed it too and squinted warily.

”You are a most curious individual Apollo. Most curious indeed.” Nerissa opened her mouth to speak, but Phoebe continued. ”You have some shady history and are definitely hiding a few things that Nerissa simply doesn’t care about, though it is true you hold no hostile intent to her of our species.”

I let out a breath of relief, glad to know I was off the hook. ”Personally, I think Nerissa was... Hasty, with her decision to give you her blessing, but it is ultimately her choice. It is a shame you were born in this era Apollo, your mind and way of thinking would have thrived back in the glory days.

I smiled at Phoebe’s compliment, but shook my head in disagreement. ”I am exactly where I should be at the exact right time. My friends, family and loved ones are all here and I wouldn’t change a thing about my life right now.”

Phoebe’s purple lips curled into a soft smile. ”Well spoken Apollo. Well spoken. Now that does conclude my investigation. Nerissa is safe and that is all the rest of us Praetorians care about. Apollo, Nerissa, you are free to leave, I will return to Ecumenopolis 1 shortly, I have a brisk meeting with the headteacher and I will be gone.

I nodded and stood up to leave, Nerissa following suit, donning her helmet before Phoebe spoke up again.

”Apollo, wait but a moment, I actually have one more question for you...”

I turned around curious. ”Sure? What’s up?” I asked, prompting mild confusion within me as Phoebe’s face became oddly alluring, as embarrassment brushed across it. She began twiddling her thumbs and she asked.

”Y-Your big kitten, Sapphire. Does it like pets?”